hiring

One of the hardest hires — and one of the hardest jobs — is to be the first VP of sales at a startup. Why? There is no history / experience Nobody knows what works and what doesn’t work The company may not have a well defined strategy so it’s hard to make a go-to-market […]

“Well, he’s never been a sales development rep (SDR) manager before, but he has been an SDR for 3 years at another company. The chance to be a manager is why he’d come here.” — Famous Last Words I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard something akin to the above in hiring […]

I remember years and years ago attending a training class for job candidates on how to improve their interviewing skills. The crux of the course was this: Most people are bad interviewers. Since they don’t know what to ask, you need to tell them what they need to know regardless of what you’re asked. What they need to know […]

Recently, a good friend of mine running a Hot SaaS Start-up asked me if he should hire a particular VP of Product candidate I knew well. The team he’d be managing was a big thumbs up on him. The board was in favor. And I knew this VP. This VP is a 10/10. But … it wasn’t […]

Twice in my career, I’ve hired Connie Laughlin. She’s a great HR and Resource Management executive. Interestingly, her last employer has had to downsize and now she’s on the other side of the fence. Instead of hiring others, she’s the one looking for a job. And, she’s noticed something I’ve heard a lot about lately: […]

HR Processes Are Stuck in First Gear – Still Most HR functions have been automated. Tedious, labor-intensive activities such as payroll calculations and benefits administration were automated years ago through combinations of tools such as ERP technology, IVR, standalone HR solutions, etc. For the most part, most HR solutions in use today are still at […]

We’ve talked a lot on SaaStr about how to make that critical hire: the VP Sales. I’ve done it right, and I’ve done it wrong. When it’s good … it’s just so good. It all clicks. But when you make a mis-hire, it’s about the worst mis-hire you can make. Because you’ll lose not just […]

“Psst … hey buddy, can I interest you in changing employers for a nice signing bonus?” In HR circles, there’s been a great argument going on for years about the War for Talent. Essentially, there are those lamenting the lack of trained personnel for key roles. Some people blame schools/educators (for not teaching market-relevant skills), […]

I spent 3 years at Get Satisfaction, going from around 10 employees to 70′ish at the peak. Leaving was not an easy choice but after 3 years I needed to do something different, not better just different; I detailed my reasons and next move here. After much contemplation I decided to write a blog post […]

There’s an endless amount written on the ‘net about hiring Rockstars. Finding them, not settling, and all that. That you need to spend 20%+ of time recruiting (I said that myself here). That the #1 most important thing you can do is put together a great team. Which is absolutely true. But the #2 most […]